Prime Valkyrie

by Michael-Scott Earle

  “What are you--” I started to ask, but the semi screeched to a halt underneath a highway overpass, and I saw the reason for Uma’s maneuver.

  Four shuttles were dropping into the atmosphere. It was hard to tell exactly where they were in relation to our position, but it looked as if they were destined to enter about a kilometer ahead of us.

  Right where the airport was.

  Chapter 11

  “What should we do, Adam?” Hegeia asked after we stared at the dropping shuttles for a few dozen seconds.

  “Let’s wait to see if they go,” I whispered, but I didn’t exactly like the idea.

  The ships continued their descent for another thirty seconds, and then they leveled out approximately four hundred meters over the ground. For a few moments, I thought that they were just going to float in above the airport, but then three of the shuttles gradually began to drift toward us.

  “Shit,” I hissed, and the three women began to talk rapidly with each other.

  “They won’t see us! We are under the bridge!” Hegeia shouted as the shuttles began to pick up speed.

  “If we can see them. They can see us,” I said as I tried to figure out what to do. Would King Vaish just have one of the ships blow me up with its plasma weapons? I couldn’t understand why he was going out of his way to kill me before I finished Odin’s rite. I would have died anyway.

  The four of us froze in the cab of the truck, and I kept my eyes on the front cannons of the shuttle. My heart hammered in my chest, but I knew there was nothing I could do. Driving the semi-truck away would just draw attention to us. I had to pray that Hegeia was right, and they didn’t see the truck parked in the dark nook under the overpass.

  Then the ships passed over us, and we all let out a long sigh.

  “Why he want to kill you?” Hegeia asked.

  “Long story,” I said as I pointed to the last shuttle. It was drifting toward the ground, and I guessed it was going to land right smack dab in the middle of the airport’s runway. “That’s not good.”

  “No,” she said. “Also don’t see any spacecraft at airport. Just airplanes.”

  Hegeia was right. The airport was approximately five kilometers wide by maybe seven long. There was a decorative wall at the perimeter, but no gate to keep it locked down. I didn’t know if they had commercial flights, but the only craft I could see on the distant runways looked to be atmospheric subsonic jets. There were twenty-four large hangars, and a massive network of connecting buildings I believe were used for processing passengers to their gates.

  The shuttle finished landing on one of the runways, and a group of thirty Vaish soldiers in power armor stepped out of the shuttle.

  They each carried plasma rifles and, even though I couldn’t see their faces because of their helmets, they looked as if they were prepared to be attacked at any moment.

  “What the fuck is going on?” I asked. “This feels like overkill.”

  “You can see that far?” Hegeia asked with surprise. “How many?”

  “Thirty…” I paused as I did another count. “Four. They all have plasma rifles and power armor.”

  Hegeia talked to the other two women, and their faces looked grim.

  “Look, you three don’t have to help me anymore. I can go from here. I’ll sneak into the airport, grab one of the planes, and then try to get to another city. I can always fly to my checkpoint and then go to the one in Helheim.”

  “No,” Hegeia said as she shook her head. Her red hair bounced over her shoulders, and her light blue eyes looked a bit angry. “You won’t make it without us. We are thrall, but want to be free women.”

  “Can’t I just free you--”

  “Why King Tanal Vaish hate you?” she asked. “No tell us later. Tell us now. Tell us long story, but quick.” Her eyes narrowed, and even though her eyes were a lighter shade of blue than Zea’s, the expression reminded me of my lover.

  “All right,” I said as I glanced back to the distant shuttle. “My friends and I are trying to fight these horrible vampire god-like creatures. We call them SAVOs, but I think your people call them Draugr. We know a few of them are coming to this one planet, and millions of people are in danger. We were following a lead and stopped on a planet to hunt for food. While we were there, my friends were captured by these slavers called the Magate Order. Have you heard of them?”

  “No, but we have heard of Draugr. Vaish say they come to our galaxy soon. That is why he wants to unite clans. Other kings laugh at him. He is powerful, but they don’t wish to kneel.”

  “Yeah,” I said as I recalled what Madalena told me of the Nordar’s political environment.

  “You looking for friends, ya?”

  “I had to run from the Magate Order. I ended up at this system named Epsilon Tauri - b. There was a station there that had been attacked by the Jotnar.”

  “Jotnar powerful blood clan,” Hegeia said. “Maybe as powerful as Vaish.”

  “That’s the impression I got,” I replied. “There were survivors on the station. I saved them and asked if they could help me find my friends. They agreed, but their leader asked to submit to me. I told her I didn’t want her to, I honestly didn’t care, but they said they would kill me if I dishonored her. Then one--”

  “The Prime Valkyrie?” Hegeia gasped, and her blue eyes grew impossibly large.

  “Yeah, how did you guess?”

  “It now makes sense why King Vaish want you dead,” Hegeia said, and then she translated the conversation for the other two women.

  “We were supposed to go look for my friends, but one of her crew deliberately set the navigation point wrong so we would end up in this system. King Vaish tried to kill me in his throne room, but I survived. Then he said I needed to complete Odin’s rite. His men tried to kill me before I got into the pod, and then he poisoned the food they gave me.”

  Hegeia translated my words to the other women, and they looked angry.

  “He interferes with Odin’s rite,” Hegeia growled. “It is bad omen. He risks his clan, and the honor of the Prime Valkyrie.”

  “I don’t know anything about that. All I know is the path to saving my friends involves getting back to the fortress so I can get to my ship. The success of this endeavor lies in getting an airplane and getting to a shuttle. I still need to sneak into the airport and try to take one.” The squad of warriors were still clumped on the runway, but I realized they really didn’t need to try to search the buildings. If I wanted to leave, I’d have to fly past them, and they would be able to shoot me out of the sky.

  Even if I got past them, they would just follow me in their other shuttles.

  “Why you heal?” Hegeia said as she reached over her sister and touched my bloody cheek. She was right, I wasn’t bleeding anymore from there, or my neck.

  “I heal fast,” I said.

  Uma said something, and the two sisters turned to her. They spoke urgently for a few more moments, and then the blonde woman with the dark eyes gestured at me.

  “What is she saying?” I asked.

  “Uma says we should just take their shuttle, but it impossible.”

  “Yeah. They have armor and--”

  Uma shook her head and then slapped her hand on the steering wheel of the truck. Then she pointed at me and nodded at Hegeia.

  “Her plan is to find jet fuel or batteries we can overload. Then we light one of the buildings on fire. Hope that the soldiers go to investigate. Then we get on shuttle, go to fortress, take your ship back, and then save your friends. She says plan is what Loki would do, so maybe both he and Odin bless us.”

  “Hmmm,” I said as I thought about the idea. “It’s a long shot, but it might work. We might also be able to distract them and fly out, or we could find a shuttle in one of the hangars, we aren’t going to know unless we get into the airport.”

  Hegeia translated what I said back to Uma, and the woman smiled broadly at me. She was definitely the crazy one of the trio.

  “We need t
o get into the airport. Let’s try searching the first set of hangars. We’ll need to find fuel or batteries.” I looked at the highway ahead of us as we spoke. The correct path to enter the airport gates was still a half-minute drive away, but it was visible to the soldiers guarding the runway. It was still some two kilometers from their location so they might not see us turn in, but we were in a large semi-truck, in the middle of the night, and there were no other vehicles on the road.

  They were also carrying plasma rifles.

  “We need to drive around the back so they don’t see us,” I said. “Then we’ll have to climb one of the walls and get to a hangar.”

  “Ya,” Hegeia said, but Uma must have already guessed what I was thinking, and she threw the truck into reverse.

  We drove away from the airport, and then she turned us toward the farthest side away from where the shuttle was parked. There was no road there, but the ground looked to be made of smooth snow. It seemed like a risky drive, but if we got stuck, we could just hoof it the rest of the way.

  Uma drove the truck off the road, and it fish-tailed slightly when we hit the icy snow. She didn’t have her headlights on, but the distant lights of the airport provided a very dim illumination. I could make out the details of the ground, and should have been the one driving, but Uma made small adjustments to the path the truck was taking as she drove, so I figured that she knew what she was doing.

  The truck handled surprisingly well on the ice, and we soon came to the perimeter wall of the airport. Uma parked the semi right up against the wall then turned the engine off with a press of her finger.

  “Good job,” I said as I gave her a nod, then I got out of the truck and helped the three women step down.

  I handed them rifles as soon as they exited, and they took them gratefully.

  “I thought thralls couldn’t carry or use weapons?” I asked Hegeia as I opened one of the ammo belt’s pouches.

  “Ya, but this different,” she said with a shrug.

  “How?”

  “Prime Valkyrie submitted to you. You heal from cuts and bullets. You on Odin’s rite. You will be King of Vaish and then Lord of the Nordar. We will submit to you, and our honor will be restored.”

  “No one is going to submit to me,” I said as I passed her the belt that was filled with rifle ammo.

  “Ya.” Hegeia shrugged again and then put the belt on. I didn’t care to argue with her anymore, so I checked the other belts, and handed one to both Uma and Waiola. Then I found the belt with shotgun magazines and put it around my waist.

  “Let’s go,” I said as I grabbed the auto shotgun from the seat and gestured to the truck. The women nodded, and then I watched them climb up to the roof of the cab before I made my own way up.

  The top of the truck wasn’t quite as high as the edge of the wall, but I was able to give each of them a boost with my hands. Then I made a short sprint, hit the bricks with the bottom of my boot, and caught the top edge. My still wounded shoulder protested when I pulled myself up, but the small twinge of pain indicated I wasn’t seriously injured anymore.

  Uma and Waiola grabbed my arms to help pull me up the wall. Once I was on top, Hegeia pointed across a few hundred meters of snow to the closest hangar. Beyond that structure was the main airport building. Luckily, it blocked the line of sight from the Vaish shuttle.

  It was a five-meter drop to the snow below us. I landed first, set down my shotgun, and then gestured for the women to jump down to me. The sisters hesitated, but Uma kicked her legs over the edge. I caught her waist when she fell and then set her on the snow next to me. After seeing Uma safely caught, Waiola came next, and then Hegeia fell into my arms.

  We trekked across the snow, and I searched the dark horizon for any sign of shuttles or security drones. We were totally out in the open field of white between the wall and buildings, thus at the mercy of anyone who owned a weapon and knew we were here. Fortunately, no one saw us, and we made it to the wall of the first hangar.

  “Check the left side of the building for a door,” I said to the women as I began to move to the right side. Hegeia nodded, and the women split off from me.

  I moved to my corner and leaned the side of my face out. There was an entrance door to the hangar about thirty feet down, and I leaned back so I could motion for the three friends to come toward me. They had not reached the left side of the building before one of them noticed my signal and did as I instructed. As they reached me, I straightened back up and prepared myself to make a run for the door. I still couldn’t see the shuttle since it was on the other side of the main building, but I didn’t want to take any chances. The area still looked clear, so I sprinted to the hangar door.

  I expected the door to be locked, and I wasn’t disappointed. It was just a metal knob though, and I broke it off with one quick strike with the buttstock of my shotgun. It did make a loud noise when I snapped it, but I didn’t think the group guarding the runway would be able to hear across the distance and beyond the howl of the winds.

  We entered the hangar, but its vast space was empty of craft. There was a small open top electric car parked inside that I guessed was used for shuttling between the hangars, but I thought using it would just draw attention to us. I’d also have to open the massive roll-up door to the hangar to drive it out, and that would definitely alert anyone looking in this direction.

  “Next hangar,” I said as we turned around and moved to exit out of the door we came in. I almost stepped out into the snow, but my foot paused in mid-step as I heard a noise coming from outside. I tilted out my head to peer through the opened gap at the edge of the door.

  A group of four warriors were using the thrusters on the back of their power armor to zip around the airport. They were hovering above the ground some three hundred meters away while sweeping in our direction.

  “Shit, backup.” I pushed the women away from the exit and then grabbed the metal door. I still kept the side of my head out to keep an eye on their progress, but it was obvious that the four soldiers intended to investigate the hangars on this side of the airport.

  “What we do?” Hegeia asked as I closed the door to the hangar.

  “We only have a few minutes before they are here.” My eyes scanned through the empty hangar as I spoke, but I didn’t see anything we could use as cover. There was the small electric car, other lift equipment that could be used as scaffolding to work on aircraft, some shelves I guessed would contain tools, and then a back office section. I doubted anything useful was in the office, but I pointed to my eyes, then at Uma, and then back the office. She nodded and ran toward the room.

  “We fight here?” Hegeia asked again as she looked down at her rifle.

  “Or we try to work around them, maybe they won’t see us.” I knew the idea wasn’t great since it would be hard for conventional bullets to punch through power armor, but we were running out of options.

  Couldn’t I get a fucking break?

  Then I remembered that I had received help. I doubt I would have made it this far without Hegeia, Uma, and Waiola. The three of them were honorable people, and I hoped I could get them out of this alive, get back onto Persephone, and take them with me to find my friends.

  First, I had to figure out how to kill all these dickheads and take their shuttle.

  “Adam!” Uma called out to me from the office, and we all ran over to her.

  “What did you find?” I asked, and she pointed to the office with a smile. The room was unremarkable, with just a computer terminal, desk, bed, and filing cabinet, but at the back of the space was another door, and I saw stacks of power cells. I wasn’t familiar with their design, but it was obvious that they were used for powering vehicles.

  Uma spoke to the other two women, and then Hegeia turned to me.

  “She says that these are old style cells, they are volatile if mixed together.”

  “So they will explode if I shoot them?” I asked. Hegeia translated, and Uma replied with a shrug.

  �
�She says maybe. Or maybe not, but possibly maybe.”

  “There must be more than fifty of them,” I said as I poked my head in the back room. They were about half the size of the semi-truck’s tires, cylindrical in shape, and had a faint purple glow to them. “Let’s take them out and put them near the roll-up side doors.”

  I set my shotgun over my shoulder, squatted down, and grabbed one of the cells. It weighed about fifty kilograms, and I realized there was no way the women were going to be able to help me carry them all the way across the hangar.

  “Get that car we saw on the other side of the hangar, bring it back here, and we’ll load it up,” I ordered Hegeia, and she told Waiola, and she ran out of the office.

  “I’ll take these to the small door we came through,” I told Hegeia as I squatted lower beside a stack of three power cells. I tensed my stomach, gripped the bottom cell, and then lifted all three of them with a grunt. My right shoulder told me to go fuck myself, but most of the strength required for the movement was coming from my legs, stomach, glutes, and back.

  The two women jumped out of my way, and I made a fast walk across the hangar floor and toward the side door we entered. I had seen old fuel cells react with napalm-like explosions, but their designs were different from these models. We might not even need to use them, we might get lucky, and the soldiers might just skip this hangar or think it was unoccupied.

  I set the fuel cells down to the side of the door then turned back toward the office. There was a window in the wall there that I could lean out and shoot at these cells, but taking cover in the small office-shed building would be suicide unless I could get the other power cells out.

  Waiola stopped the car next to me, and I jumped in. She sped to the small office then backed the car into the doorway. Uma and Hegeia had already stacked three of the power cells on the floor outside of the building, but they were breathing heavy from the exertion.

  This wasn’t going to work. We didn’t have enough time to get all the cells out of the office or place them at the entry points to the hangar. We had more than enough cells to cover the entire roll-up door, but we didn’t have enough time or hands to do it in that time.